Special Report

Sabotaging Immigration Enforcement?

George Soros has an app for that. But Rep. Steve King has a different idea.

The Left is promoting a new smartphone app called “Notifica” that helps illegal aliens to continue violating America’s immigration laws and allows them to keep their lawbreaking colleagues out of the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials trying to do their jobs.

Of course there is a silver lining to this digital subversion of the nation’s laws by the lawless Left.

There is — cough, cough — nothing stopping creative, patriotic mischief-makers from using Notifica for purposes its creators did not intend.

The app comes as tensions heat up between the Trump administration and hundreds of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions including the self-declared sanctuary state of California that erect obstacles to the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The sanctuary movement gave illegal aliens permission to rob, rape, and murder Americans by, among other things, stigmatizing immigration enforcement. Some left-wingers use the euphemism “civil liberties safe zones” to describe sanctuary jurisdictions. The phrase deliberately blurs the distinction between citizens and non-citizens by implying illegal aliens somehow possess a civil right to be present in the U.S.

A puff piece in Adweek describes Notifica as “a panic button to help immigrants,” and CNN considers Notifica to be one of “5 must-have apps for undocumented immigrants.”

“Notifica is an app that gives people control of their own destiny,” said United We Dream’s Adrian Reyna, an illegal alien himself. “I want to do everything in my power to make sure that individuals aren’t afraid and they are able to live a life with dignity and respect that they deserve.”

Promotional material for the offensive app states, “Notifica can help you prepare for an encounter with ICE or police officers and quickly inform your network if you worry you may be detained.” Notifica can also easily be used to blast out mass-alerts about law enforcement activity to help illegal aliens remain at large.

The app treats illegal aliens as innocent victims, providing a helpful ACLU-style checklist for what to do when ICE is nearby. The headings in one part of the app are: “Do not open doors”; “Remain silent”; “Do not sign”; “Report & record”; and “Defend Your Rights!”

The primary but unstated purpose of the anti-law enforcement app, currently available in English and Spanish for iOS and Android-based smartphones, is to empower the user to let illegal aliens know when authorities are in the neighborhood so they can run away to evade lawful capture and continue working illegally, defrauding welfare agencies, appearing in sob-story puff pieces on MSNBC, or running get-out-the-vote programs for Alinskyite groups.

There are plans for an updated version of the app in the Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese languages.

The app was launched by United We Dream, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit that advocates for illegal aliens and that is funded partly by America-hating currency manipulator George Soros through his Open Society Foundations (OSF).

“The app allows immigrants who face detention to notify loved ones of their whereabouts, and encourage them to contact a lawyer,” she said. “It is a way of ensuring that people confronted by immigration enforcement are aware of their rights, are afforded due process, and have access to legal counsel in their hour of need.”

Well, that’s one way to spin it.

United We Dream markets Notifica using similar wording.

“Notifica can help you prepare for an encounter with ICE or police officers and quickly inform your network if you worry you may be detained.”

Recently, U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced HR 5884, the proposed “Mayor Libby Schaaf Act of 2018,” named after the Democrat mayor of Oakland, Calif., who undermines immigration law enforcement by alerting illegal aliens about approaching ICE raids. The legislation goes after state and local officials in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions who hinder the efforts of ICE to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.

“Sanctuary politicians are placing the lives of citizens and law enforcement officers in jeopardy by giving illegal aliens warnings about impending ICE actions in local jurisdictions,” King said. “This is obstruction of justice, and Americans do not have to put up with it. Under my bill, government officials who tip off illegal aliens about imminent federal immigration enforcement efforts could face up to 5 years in prison.”

Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan has said that 800 criminal aliens have been able to avoid arrest because of public warnings Schaaf has given. The ICE chief has compared the mayor’s actions to those of a “gang lookout yelling ‘police’ when a police cruiser comes in the neighborhood.” President Trump has encouraged U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to prosecute Schaaf for her activities.

Does Congressman King’s legislation stand a chance in the current political climate?

Probably not but it is worth a try.

Matthew Vadum is senior vice president at Capital Research Center, an investigative think tank in Washington, D.C.